With our sweltering summer heat in Coastal Alabama, it can be hard to imagine the crisp, cool weather of fall.
It is hard to think about fall gardening when you are sweating under the summer sun. The best time to plan and prepare your garden is now. Cooler weather is just around the bend, and it's ideal for all kinds of vegetables to grow. By getting an early start now, you can ensure great results when the fall approaches. This is a one-stop guide that covers all there is to know about starting and preparing a fall garden in our grow zone; what to seed-start now, how to prepare your garden, picking heat-tolerant varieties that won't bolt, and many tips and tricks to keep your garden going. We will also talk about how to beat the summer heat and stay motivated when gardening. Let's dive in and get your garden ready for a productive fall season.
The fall gardening season can start as early as late summer. August is a prime month to begin seed starting seeds for your fall garden and planning.
Here's a detailed list of what you can seed start now plus a few of my favorite varieties that do well in our hot humid climate.
Leafy greens
Root vegetables
Other
Proper preparation is key to having a bountiful and productive fall garden. Here's how to go about it:
Get all spent summer crops and weeds cleared out. This reduces incidence of pests and diseases and opens up space for new plants. Compost the healthy plant material and return the nutrients to the soil.
Amending: Adding compost or well-rotted manure will help bring back those nutrients that the summer crops took out of the soil. Nutrient-rich soil benefits fall crops by increasing the holding capacity of the soil for both moisture and nutrients, due to the improvement in the structure of the soil by incorporating organic matter.
Mulch: Use moist and cool mulches. For example, straw, leaves or grass clippings as organic mulch are good. Mulch also prevents weed growth and, with its decomposition over time, it supplies organic matter to the soil.
Plan for crop rotation: Arrange your crops with rotations so that you keep diseases in the soil from becoming too abundant and decrease nutrient loss. Avoid planting the same family of vegetables in the same spot as last season. Another benefit of crop rotation is that it helps manage soil fertility and reduces pest buildup.
Bolting is when a plant heads to seed, A.K.A starts, to shoot flowers, usually due to stress of high temperatures. At that, this process generally produces leaves with a bitter taste. To avoid bolting, especially in early autumn:
Heat-tolerant varieties: Choose heat-tolerant varieties that are bred for tolerating higher temperatures without bolting. Look for seed packets labeled heat-tolerant, Southern, bolt-resistant, etc.
Make shade: Grow taller plants around them to give them a break from the really hot sun that beats down during the afternoon.
Tip: Grow sunflowers on the south side of your fall garden to help shade from our late summer heat spells, and use them as cut flowers for fall decorations or roast up their seeds. Bonus: Sunflowers attract a wide variety of pollinators!
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Turn your attention to heat-tolerant greens for a more secure harvest as temperatures start to fall. Here are some options:
Malabar spinach: Heat-loving; use like regular spinach. It is an aggressive vine, so plant where it can be trellised; continue to pick the very tender leaves for an almost ongoing harvest. Great also as a soup and sauce thickener.
Swiss chard: Swiss chard is a heat-loving, versatile plant. You can harvest it in baby green form, or you can allow it to mature. For different types of Swiss chard, experiment with Bright Lights and Fordhook Giant.
New Zealand spinach: It is another effective alternative to usual spinach but much more temperature-tolerant. It sprawls, thus establishing very quickly, and produces lots of succulent leaves.
Okinawa spinach: A good perennial substitute to regular spinach; tolerates the heat. It dies back in winter and comes again up every year. Rich in Vitamins A and C, iron and antioxidants, it does well in full sun or partial shade and is versatile for use in salads and stir-fries. Its vibrant green and purple leaves add ornamental value to all gardens.
Amaranth greens: Also known as callaloo, amaranth greens are highly heat-tolerant and can be used in salads or cooked dishes.
Timing is everything: If you have started your own seeds, do so either indoors or in a shaded area outdoors — like on a porch — to avoid inflicting heat stress on young plants. Then transplant them out into the garden once temperatures cool down. It's one way to let those seedlings establish without the summer heat stressing them.
Succession planting: Sow a succession of crops to lengthen the harvest period. This helps ensure a continuous supply of fresh vegetables.
Plant densely: The use of a dense planting strategy can aid in shading the soil, minimizing competition from weeds and retaining soil moisture. Thinning seedlings to the appropriate spacing ensures good air circulation and reduces disease risk. Spinach is a crop I really like to use for dense planting around all my longer growing crops.
Staying motivated with gardening in the hot summer gardening in the heat of summer can be quite challenging, especially in our region with high temperatures and humidity. Here's how you can keep your garden thriving and stay motivated during the hot months. Here's how you can beat the heat and keep your summer enthusiasm for gardening.
Cooler hours: The coolest parts of the day are early morning and late evening. Plan to do the bulk of your gardening during these times to avoid the intense midday sun.
Deconstruct your garden chores: Do not attempt to do everything in one day. Break down your gardening work into bite-sized pieces and distribute them over the day.
Create shade: Tall plants and trees create shade indirectly or directly. This will be a long-term solution because it will eventually make the microclimate of your garden much cooler. In our climate, afternoon shade in all seasons is always appreciated by plants.
Future planning: Use these hotter months to plan out your fall garden. Do some research on new plants, create a seed wish list, and prepare your garden beds for the forthcoming season.
Experiment and adapt: Don't be afraid to experiment with new methods and plants. Gardening is a continuous learning process, and adapting to challenges can lead to rewarding outcomes.
Realistic goals: Start small, grow tall! Everyone kills plants; I mean everyone. Don't get discouraged, and be realistic. No one has a picture-perfect garden. Remember that no one shows their dead plants on social media. Do not let this discourage you. It prevents burnout and keeps you motivated. Take care of your mental health, enjoy the process and — stay hydrated yourself and your plants!
Following these tips, you, too, can beat the heat. Don't lose motivation during hot months of gardening — after all, the best key to a successful summer garden is keeping your cool, both mentally and physically, staying hydrated and thinking positively. Happy gardening!
Photos provided courtesy of Kitti Cooper.
